Kion Etete has shown fleeting glimpses of what he is capable of in a Cardiff City shirt, but finally appeared to come of age at Watford on Wednesday night.
The striker has been a low burner this season, starting slowly, he was hampered by injuries in the first half of the season. But since the arrival of Sabri Lamouchi, he appears to have a more prominent role in the team and is thriving with the responsibility.
Cardiff's sizeable front two of Etete and Sory Kaba is throwing up some problems for opposition defences. Yes, both are physically big, but they are indeed different players and the combination has struck a nice blend at the business end of the pitch.
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Kaba's muscle and directness gives defenders a lot to be concerned about, while Etete's game is slightly more nuanced, with tricky feet and an odd running style with the ball at his feet, chopping this way and that at odd angles.
But, crucially, while Kaba has found goals easy to come by, Etete has had a problem in that department. For all of his positive play in bringing others into the equation, his own goal tally has fallen short of what he would perhaps have liked.
His excellent goal against Watford was perfectly timed, though. It was just his second of the season, but, boy, it was an impressive one. With City a goal down, Andy Rinomhota slid a ball through to Etete, who was out wide in the penalty area with it all still to do. He cut inside one defender and placed the ball expertly into the far corner with a truly accomplished finish.
It was exactly what he deserved, because he had been a menace up until then. We were just starting to see that before his mini injury setback which he suffered in the abandoned game at Rotherham, where he was arguably the Bluebirds' best player up until he was taken off in the first half.
At Watford, though, he put in a performance which many fans hope they will see far more often next season. He won duels, harried defenders, ran at the Watford backline with the ball at his feet and, crucially, showed a composure in front of goal. It's safe to say his manager, Sabri Lamouchi, was impressed.
"That was the best performance under me," Lamouchi said of the striker. "He was injured for a couple of weeks, so he missed some games, but that is the best performance from Kion.
"Tonight, they all played a high level. Probably not in quality, but with the determination and the attitude. So Ryan (Wintle), Rallsy, the captain, they run a lot. Andy (Rinomhota) as well, Kaba, (Mahlon) Romeo and Callum (O'Dowda). When you play against (Joao) Pedro and (Ismaila) Sarr, you control them 1v1, congratulations to them."
He will have to up his goalscoring numbers and he will know that. Two goals in 27 games is not good enough for a striker at this level. He is still just 21, though, and there is a real belief from those within the club that he will realise the potential which saw them fork out £500,000 for his services from Tottenham.
Because with Sory Kaba, Connor Wickham and Mark Harris all leaving at the end of this season as things stand, Etete's role is only going to be more pronounced next year, one suspects.
But he does appear to be tracking in the right direction. The Etete Cardiff fans are seeing now is vastly improved from the one they saw at the beginning of the campaign and long may that progress continue.
He appears to be growing in stature and confidence, too. Early on in the game, when City were a goal down, Callum O'Dowda burst down the wing but failed to put a cross in to Etete. The striker made his displeasure known to the Irishman, telling him forcefully that he wanted the ball played in to him. It prompted a heated exchange between the pair which resulted in O'Dowda slamming the ball into the floor and running away.
Fans might not want to see that, but if they take one positive out of it, it's that Etete is clearly a confident lad and backed himself to score despite a relatively meagre return so far this term. Of course, just minutes later, he found the back of the net. Who was the first person to celebrate with him? You guessed it, O'Dowda.
Like his strike partner Kaba, Etete will want to have a big say in Cardiff's bid for survival over the final four games of the campaign and will doubtless want to endear himself further to a Bluebirds fan base who are perhaps beginning to see why he was brought to the club in the first place.
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